ROTTERDAM.- The second official edition of Haute Photographie in Rotterdam closed its doors just 10 days ago. Returning to LP2 in Las Palmas and the Art Rotterdam Week, Haute Photographie continued with its unique concept of a fair presented as a museum-quality group exhibition. The group of galleries taking part in the fair grew this year, with many returning from the first edition, but the amount of exhibitors was still kept limited to maintain Haute Photographie's boutique spirit. This year's participants were Bildhalle (Zurich), Cokkie Snoei (Rotterdam), Galerie Esther Woerdehoff (Paris), Dorothée Nilsson Gallery (Berlin), Howard Greenberg Gallery (New York), Ibasho Gallery (Antwerp), Kahmann Gallery (Amsterdam), mc2gallery (Milan), NOOR (Amsterdam), Torch Gallery (Amsterdam), The Ravestijn Gallery (Amsterdam) and Galerie Wouter van Leeuwen (Amsterdam).

The participants of the fair, both returning and first-timers, were pleased with their experience at Haute Photographie. Claudio Composti from mc2gallery (Milan), who had their first Haute Photographie, described their experience as: "...a great format; not even a fair, but more an event created for photography. An exclusive experience dedicated to collectors in a new type of fair format. It was a great chance for gallerists to talk to visitors and show their works in a private, elegant living room for photography."

Martijn van Pieterson from returning Ibasho Gallery (Antwerp) added: "After a great start in 2017, the fair in 2018 was improved on multiple fronts. The quality of the presentation grew, as well as the number of visitors. We were very happy with our sales and the new contacts we've made. The addition of the new galleries made the fair more diverse, without losing the collegial and museum-like atmosphere. All in all, a great edition that makes us excited for what's next."

The 2018 edition of Haute Photographie saw a steady growth of visitors, exceeding 6.000 during the 4-day event. Across the galleries over 120 artworks were sold to private and corporate collections. Vintage photographs by artists including Karlheinz Weinberger and Ata Kandó found new homes, while contemporary works by Bastiaan Woudt, Miho Kajioka, Schilte & Portielje and Albarran Cabréra proved to be favourites of visitors, finding their way to multiple collections. The Haute Talent Exhibition was a success for the participating artists. All of the participants - Bart Lunenburg, Alexander Sporre, Paul Cupido, Kevin Osepa, Tamara Stoffers and Peronne Pere - sold numerous works, with one enthusiastic collector purchasing a complete set of works by Lunenburg and Pere. As Lunenburg noted: "Haute Photographie was a great opportunity for me to present my work to a new audience. I really enjoyed collaborating with both the young talents as well as artists further in their career, and creating this wonderful exhibition together."

The public programme, which like last year was created in collaboration with the adjoining Nederlands Fotomuseum, was popular among the visitors. The sold out artist talk by Stephan Vanfleteren, during which he was interviewed by renowned presenter, performer and writer Wilfried de Jong, was met with great enthusiasm by the gathered crowd, and the children's tour on Sunday was filled to the brim with excited young visitors. Annemarie van den Eijkel, head of marketing and communication of the Nederlands Fotomuseum, described the partnership with Haute as successful: "Together with Haute Photographie, we’ve managed to turn the Kop van Zuid into the photographic hotspot of Art Rotterdam Week in just 2 years!"

Roy Kahmann, Director and Co-Founder of Haute Photographie: “Haute Rotterdam 2018 exceeded most of my expectations. The amount of visitors has grown exponentially, and I was taken aback by the amazing response from the people who came to enjoy photography, and who perhaps even took a piece home.

The idea behind Haute was to present the very best that photography has to offer and I feel all of the participating galleries met this brief; the quality of the work on show was outstanding. This certainly helped our participants to find a new client base.
An item of particular pride for me was the success of the 6 young artists of the Haute Talent program. Their enthusiasm and their presence at the fair helped them to connect with a crowd of collectors, curators and photography lovers. A result of their efforts was that many of their pieces were bought and their work was discovered by a great number of people.

I'm looking forward to continuing our efforts for next year's edition, but in the nearer future, to replicate the success of Rotterdam at the upcoming edition of Haute in Stockholm at Fotografiska in April."